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Monday, January 14, 2013

Lifestyle Functionality is the 2013 look for homes. Easy and efficient is what is trending in Home Design these days. Our no-fuss, fast paced lifestyles demands that our home places are the same. From open floor plans to savvy multi-function rooms, to smart apps to control home's temperature - We want our homes comfortable, easy, and to work for us.Kitchens:

Colorful powder rooms get the WOW factor, less saturated living spaces in linens, grey or grey-hues. Pops of color in accents: Emerald Green, Lemon Yellow, Marine Blue and Melon.

Neutrals mixed with bright colors

Materials - Brass is back, updated for the 21st century and showing up in lighting and accents. Calacatta marble replaces Carrara for its more defined veining and color from tile to accents pieces like bowls and vases.

Thursday, January 10, 2013

As we all know Pinterest is just a wee bit addicting. Pretty pictures, DIY projects and a whole lot of recipes to help you forget your New Year's diet resolution. Most of my Boards have to do with home decorating and entertaining, but I do like scour out cleaning and organizing ideas since it's an area I appreciate, but none too keen on.

So it was a delight when I stumbled on a zillion homemade laundry detergent recipes. Since I do try to be frugal and am conscious of chemical loaded stuff, I thought I could do this! I looked at a bunch of the recipes and came up with my own mix. I've already made a batch and I have to say - My wash is super clean and smells fabulous.

I scouted out all the Products at Target including the jumbo sized covered glass canister (kitchen supply isle.) From home you'll need a kitchen box grater, a large mixing spoon and a scoop of some sort - I grabbed one of my vintage Fiestaware coffee cups. The essential oil can be purchased at (C.O. Bigelow - Essential Oil - Lavender )

Once you've gathered your ingredients the process is simple. Grate the bar soap. I used the cheese side of the grater. The soap is pretty soft, so to fine grate it would make a mess.

Grate Fels-Naptha laundry soap with kitchen grater.

Clean canister and dry well. Add powdered ingredients and mix well with large spoon. I found it easier to mix in layers tan try to dump everything in at once. I then added some of the essential oil and mixed again. Start with a few drops and increase to your desired scent. The 1st time I made a batch I used Tea Tree Oil, this last batch I used Lavender Oil.

Mix powder ingredients well with large spoon.

The added grated bar soap to canister and mix. For this step I just dug in with my hands and mixed well.

Grated Fels Naptha Laundry Soap

To style the canister, I had some left-over chalk board wall decal - So I just cut out a label with my Pinking sheers and wrote out the label in chalk. The soapy canister looks sassy on my laundry room counter and with just a scoop makes my laundry squeaky clean and fresh!

BLOGLOVIN' FOLLOW

Hello-

Stylish homemaking shouldn't be out of your reach or cost you a fortune. From entertaining to decorating, home should be celebrated and your special place in this busy world. Join me on my quest to enhance, celebrate and appreciate all things home - from choosing lettuce seeds to that perfect sofa.